Calling all artists! Rotorua's iconic Christmas tree after talented decorators

The Christmas Tree goes up in the city centre every December. Photo / File

The city's top artists are being called on to decorate the popular central city Christmas Tree.

The tree, which stands tall in the city focus every December, is a staple of Rotorua's Christmas festivities.

For the first time, the Rotorua Lakes Council is asking local artists to submit work to be considered to become one of the tree's key decorators.

About $8000 has been granted by the Rotorua Trust to help fund the artists and their hard work.

The goal is to create a fresh new look for the tree but also incorporate Rotorua's identity and a Kiwi Christmas through art.

The Christmas Tree goes up in the city centre every December. Photo / File

Rotorua Lakes Council community arts advisor Marc Spijkerbosch said the proposal was a good way to "celebrate local talent".

He said they were looking for "creativity, colour and vibrancy" but most importantly something that was "uniquely Rotorua".

Spijkerbosch has done a number of murals around the town and said it was hard to think what he would do now he "sits on the other side of the fence".

"Probably something that tells our story, the geothermal and cultural layers - but most of all, just a lot of colour."

He said this was a neat idea as the community had faced such a hard year.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have something that could take our breath away?"

There was "no shortage of talent" in Rotorua and he said it would definitely be up to the task.

St Chad's Communication Centre manager Nicky Mayne said they would consider getting involved as they believed it was a great way to "celebrate the community's creativity".

She said the Christmas season was always a wonderful time to come together and celebrate unity and this was a great way to visualise that.

"We are in full support of it ... it's a wonderful idea."

It was no small job though, with the decoration dimensions needing to be between 300mm and 1000mm.

Not only that, but local primary and intermediate schools were being approached to see if they wanted to be involved in decorating one of the giant candy canes on the tree.

The Christmas Tree goes up in the city centre every December. Photo / File

The council's art and culture lead Kathy Nicholls said it meant they did not need to import decorations but instead could add a local touch to a city icon.

She said they wanted to give a chance for children to "tune into their artistic side".

The candy canes were 1.2 metres long, but they had become a bit faded over the last three years.

This would be an opportunity to give them some zest of life again, she said.

Council staff would head along to local schools to give them some practical hints and tips on how to best decorate their candy cane.

The deadline for artist submissions is August 24.